Chapter 2
“She’s my brother’s daughter.”
Marcus said it clearly.
I felt the entire hall change around me.
Nia looked at Hope as if the blanket had opened to reveal something dangerous.
Marcus turned toward me.
“Eli’s daughter.”
I nodded because I could not manage anything else.
His hand rose halfway, then stopped.
“May I?”
That nearly broke me.
After weeks of people telling me what to do, how to grieve, when to be grateful, he asked permission to touch my child.
“Yes.”
He brushed one finger against her cheek.
Hope caught it with her tiny hand.
Marcus shut his eyes.
“Oh, little girl.”
His breath came out unevenly.
I remembered Eli teasing him about being afraid to hold newborns. Marcus always said he would wait until the baby could hold a conversation.
Now he stood beneath wedding flowers with tears on his face.
Nia recovered first.
“You never told me that.”
He looked at her.
“I told you Eli’s wife was pregnant before he died.”
“You said she was due later.”
“She delivered early.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know?”
I stared at her.
“I called the house.”
Marcus turned sharply.
“When?”
“The night I went into labor.”
Nia’s lips parted.
I kept speaking because if I stopped, I might never start again.
“I left a message. Then I called the next morning. You answered.”
Nia shook her head.
“Don’t do this here.”
“You told me he was in meetings.”
Marcus’s face went still.
I could hear the staff member wiping the floor behind us.
“You said you would tell him.”
Nia looked toward the bridesmaids.
“This is private.”
“It became public when you humiliated her,” Marcus said.
Hope started fussing.
I shifted her against my shoulder, and the movement pulled at the ache in my abdomen. Marcus noticed.
“You need to sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
“No. You’re standing because nobody gave you a place to rest.”
He turned to a venue coordinator.
“Somewhere quiet. Water. Whatever she needs.”
The woman nodded immediately.
Nia caught his sleeve.
“The ceremony starts in forty minutes.”
He looked down at her hand.
“Let go.”
She did.
He walked beside me to a small family room off the hall. The coordinator brought water and closed the door.
For the first time that morning, I could hear myself breathe.
Marcus crouched in front of my chair.
“Why didn’t you call my cell?”
“I did.”
“I only got one message. Last night.”
“I sent several.”
I took out my phone.
My hands shook so badly that he asked whether I wanted him to hold it.
I said yes.
He scrolled through unanswered messages.
The one from the hospital.
The photograph of Hope.
The message about the funeral bill.
The one I regretted most because it sounded desperate.
Marcus, I’m not asking you to fix everything. I just need someone to call me back.
He read that one twice.
“I never saw these.”
I studied his face.
There had been days when I imagined he was tired of me. Days when I looked at his name on my phone and decided I had already asked too much.
“You changed numbers?” I asked.
“No.”
He checked his own phone.
Then his expression hardened.
“What?” I whispered.
“Your contact was blocked.”
I felt cold despite the warm room.
“When?”
“I don’t know yet.”
The door opened.
Nia stood there with Marcus’s mother behind her.
Celeste wore a silver dress and the expression she used when she wanted a difficult conversation to disappear.
“Maya,” she said.
I stood instinctively.
Marcus put a hand near my elbow.
“You can stay seated.”
Celeste glanced at Hope.
For a moment, I saw grief cross her face.
Then she looked at her son.
“We have guests arriving.”
“Then tell them the ceremony is delayed.”
“Marcus.”
“Did you know Maya was trying to reach me?”
Celeste hesitated.
That hesitation hurt more than a direct answer.
“She said she needed help with some expenses.”
I looked at her.
“I said I was having a baby.”
“I meant before that.”
Nia folded her arms.
“You see? Everyone has been under pressure.”
Marcus stood.
“Did you tell my mother I knew about the calls?”
Nobody answered.
I took Hope closer.
“I can go,” I said.
Both women looked relieved.
Marcus looked devastated.
“You came because I asked you.”
“I don’t want to ruin anything.”
“You didn’t.”
Nia began crying.
It happened quickly. One moment she was angry, and the next her voice trembled.
“I have spent a year planning this wedding.”
“My brother’s child was born,” Marcus said. “And you kept that from me.”
“I didn’t keep anything from you.”
He held up his phone.
“Then explain this.”
She stared at the blocked contact.
Celeste sat down slowly.
I could feel a headache building behind my eyes.
Hope needed feeding. I needed a bathroom. None of those needs felt as urgent as escaping the room.
Marcus seemed to understand.
He asked his mother and Nia to leave.
Nia refused until he opened the door himself.
When they were gone, he turned his back while I settled Hope beneath her blanket.
“I should have checked on you myself,” he said.
I looked at his shoulders.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
No excuse.
No speech about business.
Just that one small movement.
“I can’t change that,” he said. “But I can stop pretending this is a misunderstanding.”
A knock came.
The venue coordinator stepped inside, carrying a cream envelope.
“This arrived for Ms. Maya Bennett. The courier said it was urgent.”
I recognized the lettering before she handed it to me.
My landlord’s office.
I had given the wedding address that morning because I was waiting for a document.
Marcus watched me open it.
My eyes found the date.
The deadline.
The words that made my stomach drop.
He leaned forward.
“What is it?”
I folded the paper too late.
“A notice.”
“What kind?”
May you like
I looked down at my sleeping daughter.
“They’re filing to remove us from the apartment.”
